Members of Devin’s Rec Room flex inside the weight room of Central New York’s first sober active community. © Henry Brigham 2025
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) –– Henry Brigham has been in recovery for 32 years. He’s also a father who buried his son.
What came out of that is a free, welcoming, state-of-the-art community space on the corner of Butternut Street and North McBride Street called Devin’s Rec Room.
Named after his oldest son, Devin, who died of a heroin overdose three weeks after turning 18, the center is Central New York’s first sober active community.
Inside the tan-and-brick building, there are rows of free weights, treadmills, Smith machines, stationary bikes, a yoga studio, a game room with a pool table, ping-pong and a retro console loaded with 10,000 games. There are showers, a couch, and even a fireplace.
Brigham said in the first year, the center has been open, over 500 community members have found a home at Devin’s.
“We get the word ‘wow’ a lot,” Brigham said. “People in recovery have been to a lot of clinical places. You walk into Devin’s Rec Room and it’s warm, it’s homey.”
The center officially opened in April 2025, after receiving a $200,000 grant from Onondaga County, funded through New York’s opioid pharmaceutical settlement. Membership comes with only one requirement.
“To be a member at Devin’s Rec Room, all we ask is 48 hours of continuous sobriety,” Brigham said.
Brigham said it was a battle to find a building in the city.
“We’d find a vacant space, talk to real estate people, talk to the landowners and they’d say ‘oh, you want to start a gym? Great,'” Brigham said. “Then we’d say it’s for people in recovery from substance use disorder, and we would never hear from them again. This happened at least 10 times.”
Brigham said it’s that stigma that continues to drive him in his work.
“There are an estimated 30,000 people in Onondaga County who consider themselves in recovery,” Brigham said. “And we still have the stigma of, ‘no, that must be the people on the corner.’ No — it might be your cousin, your brother, your daughter. Everybody is affected or can be affected by addiction,” he said.
Eventually, Onondaga Community College offered to sublease the building, and the center has grown rapidly in members since the ribbon-cutting.
Inside, the programming blends the physical with the emotional and the spiritual. Fitness equipment shares space with yoga classes, martial arts, meditation and support groups –– all built around connection.
“The heaviest weight in this gym is the front door,” Brigham said. “So if you can open that front door, you’ve got it made here.”
Member Jacob Gorman, who has battled addiction his whole life, said Devin’s is a diamond in the rough.
“First of all, it’s free,” Gorman said. “You can’t ask for that — nothing’s free around here,” he said.
Black belt martial arts instructor Aku “AC” Coffee leads a weekly self-defense class every Saturday. He said that training to fight is not about learning to overpower somebody physically.
“Real strength is being able to control oneself when one is angry. Recovery needs outlets — when your mind starts going back to old places, you need something else to do,” Coffee said.
Member Kristen Gushlaw said she has found a home at Devin’s.
“Henry knows everyone who walks in by name, and he knows when something’s wrong with you. He will drop everything to help you. That says a lot about this place,” Gushlaw said.
Employee Jerry Diaz said it’s the culture of inclusivity and support that sets Devin’s Rec Room apart from other community resources.
“We’re a family,” Diaz said. “A family looks out for family.”
For Brigham, the dream doesn’t stop at Butternut Street. He said he envisions more Devin’s Rec Rooms across Onondaga County.
“If you’re in recovery and think it’s hopeless, it’s not. We love you. Come on in, and we’ll help you,” Brigham said.